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Topic: Recovery from a Fulkerson Osteotomy (Read 10720 times)

I was searching the interenet and came across this website, so I thought I would join.

I had a right fulkerson osteotomy on April 24th; it was my first major sugery so I was very nervous. I was very confident in the surgeon as he was a knee expert. I stayed in the hospital for 2 night. It was only supposed to be an overnight stay but the pain was not controlled by oral pain medication. Once home I felt horrible and could barely take care of myself. I used a walker to help get around, but now I am crutches and needed help doing everything.

I am now almost two months post of and just started physical therapy on Monday. I am able to put maybe 60% of my body weight on the leg. I am 20 years old so not being able to move around is killing me. I am hoping that in a couple more weeks of intense physical therapy will get me where I feel I should be. I am in college so I have been taking online classes since I am unable to drive and go to the campus, which has been challenging.

At my last doctors visit, he took an x-ray and everything is healing like should, so that is a plus. We will see how everything goes in the coming months.

I am sure some are wondering what got me to the point of needing this extense surgery. In December of 2002 I dislocated my knee in cheerleading. I hyperextended doing a kick. I went through a month a phsyical therapy and that was the end of or so I thought. In december of 2008 I was getting ready for class and somehow I twisted my knee and the kneecap came out of place and went back in. I went to the doctor and she sent me to phsycial therapy. I as in therapy for four months and it was not helping. I was referred to a OS and he had a CT scan done and found that my patella and patellor tendon were at angle and the only option for me at that pont was this procedure.

I am so frustrated right now!!!! I started my three to fours months of physical therapy on Monday, June 15th. With my insurance I have to have a referral and all that fun stuff. I called and got one, and they told me it was approved. It just so happens that my insurance company contracts another company to take care of all their therapy claims. This other company denied my therapy. I already went to three visits and who knows if they will even see me on Monday because of this. I am so frustrated right now. I can barely walk and they are not going to pay for any therapy.. this is a bunch of crap!!! I have no idea what I am going to do now. I can't work therefore I really don't have the money to pay for therapy. I was barely going to be able to pay my co-payment for therapy.

On Monday I will be 12 qweeks post op from a fulkerson and ACLr and have been in therapy since post op day 3. I can't imagine recovering from this without therapy. I wonder if a mistake has been made. Sounds like you need to call the ins. co. and have your OS office call them. I think I was approved for 60 PT sessions, but have also heard if it is needed, more sessions can be added.

Your OS and PT can file a appeal for medical necessity which should take care of the problem. Call both and let them know you received a denial letter and they will know what needs to be done. Don't stress too much.

I also had the fulkerson in Dec 2008 and hardware removal in May 2009. It is a brutal surgery and recovery. I started PT 3 days after first surgery and still in PT today and will be through July. I can't imagine not having PT.

I can totally understand your frusturation with your insurance company esp when you are still on crutches and barely able to walk. Your focus should be on walking and not fighting with the insurance company. I would have your OS and PT step in. PT after this surgery is almost required and medically necessary.

I want to thank everyone for their replys. I am doing better and things are on their of getting resolved. I informed my PT of the letter I received over the weekend and he was blown away. He in turn had the biller from his office call and find out what was going on. Needless to say its a battle between my PT and this other company. In the meantime, I am continuing to go to my appointment and hopefully will start see an improvement soon.

As far as improving, I am doing better. Getting around is a little easier on crutches, but I am unable to be up on my feet for any long period of time. Therapy is not too bad right now, but I am sure it will get more challenging as I continue to go. We are focusing on building my quad muscle back up , as it went on vacation. Really the only part that I absolutely hate is Quad stimulation!!! I will be so happy when I no longer have to go through that.

Well, that is all for now. Will write again soon..Thanks again to everyone who replied.Jeanette

My physical therapy has been approved finally!! I am so happy and relieved there are not word to explain it. I got the call this morning letting me know it was approved.Thanks again for all the support

I am so happy to hear it got approved. Now, its time to focus on recovery. Just a thought, if your PT has access to a pool, I would try pool therapy. I started it after my hardware removal. It helped me get out of the brace and taught me how to re-learn how to walk safely. I wish I had it after my first surgery, but did not know about it.

Hey Jennifer... Unfortunately my PT does not have access to a pool, but I will manage. I have confidence in him that he will not let me fall lol!!

Just a update.I am now 9 weeks post of from my right Filkerson Osteotomy. I have definitely learned that the recovery from this surgery is SLOOOOOW!!! I am the type of person that is always on the go, so this definitely driving me crazy. I do realize that I cannot rush as I do not want to have to go through another surgery. Anyways, for the first time in 9 weeks I went up to my work to see all my work buddies. I work at the local mall and I was not there long. Ya, I definitely overdid it today, my knee is screaming at me right now. I guess I am just frustrated, because I feel I should be farther in my recovery. I dunno, I go back to see my OS on July 7th, so I will definitely be asking him if I am where I should be at this point in my recovery. Do not get me wrong I am grateful for where I am at, just wished I was further. Its just seems every attempt I make to come off my pain medication is failing. I am not the person who like to takes pills, so being on pain medication for over two months is a little aggravating, but in the same sense I do not want to live in pain like I was before surgery.

I had my Fulkerson March 30, so will be 13 weeks Monday. I totally hear you with the frustration. I am also the type of person who is always on the go. I feel I should be alot farther along in the recovery than I am. I also had an ACLr, redo LR and chondoroplasty, so I know it will be an even longer recovery. It just seems when things are progressing like they should I have a step back.

Hey Tori, thanks for you words of encouragement they mean alot!!! Its frustrating but its like the saying "take one step forward and two steps backwards".

WOW!!! you had a lot of work done.. I thought just having the fulkerson done was a lot. Partly because it was my first major surgery and I was 19. I hope you have a quick recovery as well. Well, as quick as you can!!

Haven't been on here in a while so I figured I would stop in and just post an update. As of friday, July 10th I will be 11 weeks post-op from this surgery. I am doing pretty well. I am in my fourth week of physical therapy, which I have improved greatly in just four weeks. Getting around is so much easier now than it was in the beginning. I still have things to work on in terms of getting back to normal activity before surgery but I know that will come in time.

Yesterday, July 7th I went back to my OS and he was surprised at how well I have responded to physical therapy. My ROM is excellent and my strength is getting back up to where it should be. He told me that I probably have 4-6 more weeks of physical therapy which was great news. Before surgery he told me that phsyical therapy would be 12-16 weeks and to potentially be done after 8-10weeks, was great news for me. I know I will have to continue exercising on my own, but it would be worth it. I also got my driving privileges back which made me sooo happy. I can now drive myself places instead of having to work around everyone's schedules to take me places.

With all the above being said,there is one area that I greatly have to work on and that is completely coming off the crutches. As of yesterday I started using one. I think my OS was a little surprised that I was still on them. He said that normally between 8-10 weeks people come off the crutches. I know that my physical therapist will get me where I need to be..

Sounds encouraging about all the progress you are making. Just keep pushing forward.

I can't believe how things have progressed since my strength has improved. Probably going back to work around the 22nd. My next OS appt. is the 21st and will know for sure. I need to continue to work on building that quad muscle.

Ya, the quad muscle seems to be one of the hardest muscles to get back to where it needs to be. That is one area that my physical therapist is focusing on..I will say that doing PT up until the day before my surgery has helped me a quite a lot. I would have hated to see my quad muscle if I did not go to PT before surgery.

I am hoping to go back to work probably in the beginning of August. My OS is bascially leaving it up to me and when I feel ready to return to work. First, I have to come completely off the crutch; which is being worked on right now and I don't want to rush back to work if I am not ready. My job requires me to be on my feet all day so I am just taking it easy and slowly progressing into my normal activities that I did before surgery.

Great to hear all the progress you have made since you surgery. Keep up the good work!!

I am bit frustrated right now. I am 3 months post-op from my surgery today and still in pain. I understand that this was a major procedure and everything, but you would think that the worst pain would be over. I also understand that once I started walking on it again it would hurt, but I seriously did not think it would hurt this much. I have been in constant pain for nearly a week now and its frustrating. No matter what I do to help manage pain, it does not seem to work. I keep just saying that all this pain/discomfort is from the healing process, but I don't think it should be this sore. My PT doesn't even know whats wrong...